Higher education experts on student assessment gathered at the Crystal Crown Hotel Petaling Jaya on 20 and 21 November 2017 for a conference-cum-workshop themed Redesigning Assessment for Holistic Learning (RAHoLE). The two-day event was organised by University of Malaya’s (UM) Academic Enhancement and Leadership Development Centre (ADeC) in collaboration with the Academic Development Management Section, under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). The Director General of Higher Education, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education, YBhg. Datin Paduka Ir. Dr. Siti Hamisah Tapsir was present to officiate the event.

Experts and participants at RAHoLE 2017 are collaborating with MOHE to develop a guidebook on alternative methods for holistic assessment of students’ academic performance as well as their soft skills. The RAHoLE conference and guidebook were part of UM’s efforts towards producing holistic and balanced graduates, as highlighted in the National Education Blueprint (Higher Education), or MEB (HE) 2015-2025.
RAHoLE 2017 presented a new conference format, comprising of traditional keynote speech, keynote forums and an innovative Poster-Voster Gallery Walk. The RAHoLE Poster-Voster Gallery Walk showcases poster presentations by conference participants, each accompanied by looping video and multimedia presentations. Each poster-voster features a case study of alternative assessment and is evaluated for the RAHoLE Poster-Voster Competition.

UM also launched the UM Teaching and Learning (T&L) Circles during RAHoLE 2017. UM T&L Circles serve as a platform for academics to share best practices and collaborate on research and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) to enhance student learning experience and lecturers’ teaching practices.

RAHoLE 2017 featured a keynote speech on Redesigning Assessment for Holistic Learning by Dr. Paula Hodgson, Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research, Hong Kong. Dr. Hodgson is an international expert in higher education T&L and publishes research on peer assessment, learning and assessment, outcome-based education, and service leadership. The conference also included a scholarly keynote forum on Alternative Assessment in the Context of Redesigning Higher Education, and an expert-practitioner forum entitled “Alternative Assessment: Voices from the Field”. In “Voices from the Field”, expert-practitioners of holistic assessment were reflected upon their own experiences using innovative ways to assess T&L.